Letters on Life: New Prose Translations (Modern Library Classics) [Paperback]

Rainer Maria Rilke (Author), Ulrich Baer (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2006 | Series: Modern Library Classics

Gleaned from Rainer Maria Rilke’s voluminous, never-before-translated correspondence, this volume offers the best writings and personal philosophy of one of the twentieth century’s greatest poets. The result is a profound vision of how the human drive to create and understand can guide us in every facet of life. Arranged by theme–from everyday existence with others to the exhilarations of love and the experience of loss, from dealing with adversity to the nature of inspiration–here are Rilke’s thoughts on how to infuse everyday life with beauty, wonder, and meaning.
Intimate, stylistically masterful, brilliantly translated and assembled, and brimming with the passion of Rilke, Letters on Life is a font of wisdom and a perfect book for all occasions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Baer’s translations are eloquent, and his splendid Introduction is sensitive, thorough, and illuminating.”
–Burton Pike, professor emeritus of comparative literature at City University of New York


“An indispensable resource.”
–Booklist

About the Author

RAINER MARIA RILKE (1875—1926) ranks among the great poets of world literature, and was the author of Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus.

ULRICH BAER is the author of Remnants of Song: Trauma and the Experience of Modernity in Charles Baudelaire and Paul Celan, and the editor of 110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11. Baer is associate professor of German and comparative literature at New York University and chair of the German department.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812969022
• ISBN-13: 978-0812969023
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous feat of sympathetic translation, January 26, 2008

By 

Harri Safari (New York, NY, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters on Life: New Prose Translations (Modern Library Classics) (Kindle Edition)

I am astonished that this wonderful book has not been widely reviewed by Rilke fans. Ulrich Baer is a superb translator and just as crucially he has a deep understanding of Rilke's intention and meaning - vital for opening a window to appreciating one of the greatest poets of the last century (Rilke died in 1926). It is Rilke's prose that is on show here - Baer has made his selection from many thousands of letters, and gathered countless insights that would otherwise be unavailable to English-language readers.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Watered down Rilke, April 30, 2008

By 

Gabriel Gilbert (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters on Life: New Prose Translations (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

This is a poor example of Rilke period. I found this to be a sad compilation in the spirit of "chicken Rilke for the soul." If you are in the least bit interested in Rilke and his work you would do much better checking out his work published by Vintage.